**8. Conclusions**

From previous sections it can be concluded that postgraduate studies in Circular Economy were a necessity and continue to be an ongoing reality at the University of the Basque Country.

These studies are ambitious and they are highly developed in the fields of Ecodesign and Life Cycle Thinking. This, it is expected that graduated students will help in advancing towards a sustainable society as they are incorporated into public services, higher education institutions, research centers or industry. This will enable not only a more efficient integration of the Circular Economy and Life Cycle Thinking concepts into our community, but it will also allow enterprises to get ahead of the many legislative changes that are expected to occur in the near future.

The master's degree has fostered numerous initiatives promoting knowledge transfer in Circular Economy.

This is a pioneering experience in Southwestern Europe, and in the near future, alliances will be sought with other European universities to offer a joint degree or at least to be able to offer mobility to students so that they can experience other academic realities.

The currently ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19 further encourages us to rethink our current economic system and provide a resilient approach to battle

## *Product Life Cycle - Opportunities for Digital and Sustainable Transformation*

the deep economic recession that our society is facing. The NextGenerationEU recovery plan can help but it will take the whole of society working together. In this context, the postgraduate studies in Circular Economy offered by the University of the Basque Country may serve as a common ground to boost a coalition between academia, industry and public institutions and exploit the full potential of a circular model.

Because of the work carried out, in just two years the master's degree has led to the creation within our university of a knowledge hub in Circular Economy, which hosts more than 20 research groups.

In the near future, and continuing with the product life cycle approach, we hope to promote more initiatives that provide us with opportunities for the challenging sustainable transformation of our society.
